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Becoming a Golden Hawk means more than just cheering on our (really good) varsity teams – it means being a student who cares about your community, who works hard in the classroom, and who takes advantage of all the learning opportunities that can happen outside the classroom, too.

Key Concepts

The following is listing of the key definitions the Responsible Investment Working Group (RIWG) agreed upon and referenced during their deliberations.

Responsible Investing (RI)

“Investing that integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. Responsible investing is related to but distinct from ethical investing, socially-responsibly investing, impact investing and green investing, and is increasingly driven by a business case rationale rather than moral rationale. RI encompasses a range of strategies, including ESG integration, positive screening, and best-of-sector screening.”1

Socially Responsible Investing

“Investing that considers environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors but typically driven by a moral case rather than a business case. May be more likely than mainstream responsible investing to include negative screens on entire sectors, such as tobacco, gambling, alcohol, or weapons.”2

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing

“An investment practice that involves integrating the three ESG factors into fundamental investment analysis to the extent that they are material to investment performance.”3

Fossil Fuel Divestment or Fossil Fuel Free

“An investment strategy based on the exclusion of fossil fuel companies from a portfolio. Advocates of this strategy state that there are 200 publicly-traded companies that hold the vast majority of the world’s proven coal, oil and gas reserves. They’re asking universities, charitable foundations, pension funds and other institutions to divest from these companies, as well as pipeline companies responsible for the expansion of fossil fuel projects.”4

Impact Investing

“Impact investments are investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Impact investments can be made in both emerging and developed markets, and target a range of returns from below market to market rate, depending on investors' strategic goals.”5